


Nightfall and Nightmares

by ShiroTony



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Marvel Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-05-07 02:06:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14661114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShiroTony/pseuds/ShiroTony
Summary: Pepper Potts is a mermaid and a few hundred years old. She has been protecting Tony from his nightmares since he was a baby and now, 21 years later, they meet each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First of all I'm German, and I've never tried to write something like this in English, so I'm terribly sorry if my Grammar sucks and so on, just tell me if something is wrong and I'll try to make it better.  
> I'm always open for critic, as long as you don't insult me and if you have ideas for improvement I'm also fine with that.  
> Next, this is my first fanfic and my first piece of writing I've ever made public so I hope you'll like it

_Tony_

He had heard this voice as long as he could remember. The voice wasn't really singing, it was more like a beautiful humming and it sounded like an angel. That's probably why he was so confused that he didn't hear it at all.  
At first it didn't even come to his mind that something was missing, he was just dead tired from giving one speech and press conference after another and when he arrived at home the only thing he wanted to do was finally go to bed. But when he woke up the next morning, something was... missing. He couldn't name it, it was just a feeling, but he knew that something was wrong.  
Confused he starred at his ceiling, still lying on his back until a soft knocking on his door made him take a look at the time. He was late.  
"Mister Stark, your meeting starts in half an hour."  
Anthony Edward Stark sighed.  
"I know.", he answered. "I'll be ready in a few minutes."  
His new assistant, she had been assigned to this job by Stane, started to inform him of his events for the starting day but he stopped her right at the beginning.  
"That won't be necessary. Cancel everything except that meeting, that one is important, and the rest of the day you can do what you want. I'll expect you back tomorrow morning."  
The first meeting of his fathers company, since Tony took over.  
_My company. Stark Industries belongs to me now._ , he reminded himself. _Father and mother are dead. Don't forget that._  
After taking a quick shower and dressing up he left his room, still with the weird feeling that something felt wrong.

_Pepper_

It had become difficult to hide the wound. Everyone wanted to know what the actual hell happened during her last trip into the human realm, at the surface of the ocean. Several days had past since then and now she couldn't even sing anymore. The only sounds coming from her last night were suppressed moans of pain.  
_Why did this have to happen? At a time like this?_  
Pepper looked into her mirror and touched her pale face. She had literally black rings underneath her eyes and it looked like there were only skin and bones of her left.  
"He has nightmares again.", she whispered to her reflection. "Last night he had a nightmare. I have to sing, calm him down. He shouldn't have to suffer like that. So get yourself together, Pepper, and don't be a wimp. He needs you. You should at least look at it."  
Carefully she peeled of the waterproof plaster she stole from her mother and pressed her teeth together.  
_Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream._  
She almost lost consciousness as she looked at what that goddamn grenade did to her. It looked like someone tried to rip out a piece of her body.  
_It has become worse since then._  
She could even see a bit of her lowest rib and as she breathed it felt like her guts would try to press themselves through that hole.  
Oh god it has become so much worse.  
Since she lived under water the bleeding wouldn't really stop and considering this it was almost a wonder, that she was still alive.  
"Pepper?" Stela, her sister. "We wanted to talk to you but you just disappeared. Is everything okay? You have been acting weird lately."  
"It's fine..."  
"You don't sound alright, should I come in?" Her concern could be heard.  
"No! No. I'll be done in a minute. Just... just wait for me okay?"  
Panic. No way she would be able to get away with everything she had done up till now if someone saw what happened to her. But still, it was to late.  
Stela literally crashed trough the door and gasped. Everywhere was blood. Pepper closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. I'm sorry, Tony. I'm so so sorry.  
"Oh god what happened? What should we do? Why didn't you say anything, you're dying right now!"  
"Don't shout, please! It's fine, it's just a scratch!"  
What an understatement.  
"A _scratch_!? That's not a scratch, Pepper! I can see your _guts_!"  
"No, you can't, that's just my rib, please calm down."  
She could hit herself. _Just my rib, yeah, that's definitely helping. God I'm so stupid._  
"MOM, DAD!", Stela yelled.  
As Pepper tried to move towards her sister to shut her up, her vision became blurry and the last thing she saw, before loosing consciousness, was the beautiful fish tail of her mother.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terribly sorry, I actually wanted to update earlier but (SHAME ON ME) I forgot it, since I spent time with a friend of mine... SHAME SHAME SHAME ON ME  
> As always you are free to criticize my writing, just don't insult me :)

_Tony_

He found her naked on the beach. He doesn't even know why he was wandering around, he just saw her and everything else became unimportant.  
Tony yelled at the people around him, that were either just starring at her or even taking pictures.  
He couldn't explain his sudden anger but seeing these guys around him acting like that made him furious.  
"Stop that shit and out of my way if you're not going to help her!"  
That was the moment he saw that she was terribly wounded. Blood running into the sand and the bare flesh exposed to the air. He knew this kind of a wound, it was difficult to not know how it looked like when a grenade exploded near someone. Especially when one was trading with these kind of weapons.  
"She's dead anyway!", someone said.  
"Oh my god it's Tony Stark!"  
"Does he know her?"  
"Why is he even here?"  
"I'd never thought he would be the kinda guy to wander around."  
"I called an ambulance!"  
He ignored most of the talking around him, as he knelt down next to her. Her face said everything he needed to know, she was still alive, but unconscious and in great pain. As he softly touched her cheek her lids fluttered and she frowned, while she whimpered quietly.  
"It's okay. No one will hurt you. I'll stay here and keep an eye on you." Tony just kept talking nonsense to her, hoping it would help, while he waited for the ambulance.  
Luckily they arrived pretty fast, the person that made that call must had told them that it was an emergency like no other and Tony was able to leave her to the experts.  
His heart was pounding really fast and as they wanted to bring her into the hospital he asked if he could stay with her. If it hadn't been him they would probably said no but since he was Tony Stark they were more than willing to let him come with them, which was pretty convenient.

He had to wait several hours until he could see her again.  
"Will she be okay?", he asked.  
The gaze of the doctor, a young woman, became a bit uncomfortable but Tony was stubborn. He wouldn't give in.  
After a while she finally answered and looked away while blushing.  
"It will take quite a while for her wounds to heal. But she will be alright and if nothing changes she can even leave the hospital in a few days. She is even awake at the moment and she personally wanted to thank her savior so-"  
Tony didn't even wait until the woman finished her sentence. "Thank you. Where is she?"  
Clearly the doctor didn't expected to be interrupted like that. Rather perplex she pointed behind herself. "It's the last door on the left side. She has her own room. But she doesn't have a insurance or anything so who-"  
"I'll take care of that."  
With that said he went to the room of the mysterious woman and left a young and very impressed doctor behind.  
She was lying in a bed that looked way too big for her, even though she was quite tall herself. Her eyes were closed but as soon as she heard him, she opened them. They were incredible blue and together with her long red hair and her beauty in general she was the most wonderful woman Tony had ever seen in his life. It was almost inconceivable that he didn't saw it immediately, but just now, inside the hospital.  
A little smile appeared, as she said: "Well, you must be my savior then."  
Her voice sounded rough and weak and Tony hoped that he didn't just blushed because that would have been the most awkward moment in his life.  
"I'm Tony-"  
"I know who you are. Who doesn't know you? My name is Pepper and thank you for saving me."  
Such strong words, spoken with such a weak voice.  
Nervous. Tony was getting nervous and he didn't know what to do, he had never been like this before.  
_Why am I getting nervous? There is absolutely no reason for that. I'll just ask her if she is alright, and tell her that she doesn't have to worry about money. And that's that. I'll go and I will probably never see her again._  
But despite his thoughts he put an armchair, which was standing at the other side of the room, next to her and sat down. Pepper closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, the blue seemed to be more intense than it had been before. As she looked into Tony's eyes, he felt like a little kid.  
Tony had to swallow hard, in order to be able to speak again.  
“How do you feel? Does it still hurt? Is the room okay? If.. if you don't like it I-I could...”  
Stuttering. Why was he stuttering? It didn't make any sense. And the questions. They were coming out of his mouth to fast, she couldn't have answered him at all without interrupting him. “I-I'm sorry, I... I'm just...”  
Pepper smiled. “Don't worry about it.”, she said. “I'm fine, considering the situation, and it doesn't really hurt at the moment. They gave me something, I don't know what it was, but the pain is almost gone now. And the room is completely fine, thank you.”  
_Breathe._  
“I'm really sorry for the stuttering, I've no idea what came over me just now.”  
Somehow Tony sounded cold. He didn't want to be like that but he could have started to stutter again and since there was no way he would ever want to humiliate himself like that again, he kept his tone like that.  
“Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to worry about money or anything like that. I'll take care of the bills and you stay here until you are recovered.”  
A nurse opened the door, in her hands a syringe.  
“Miss Potts, it's time for your next... medications...”  
Her voice faded away as she spotted Tony sitting inside the armchair.  
“Oh my God, Mister Stark, I...I didn't know you were still here, I thought you already left, I'm so sorry but...”  
“No, no it's fine, I wanted to go now anyway.”, he replied and stood up. “Miss Potts, if you need something, just call me.”  
He gave her his business card and left the room. Never in his life had he been happier that someone interrupted him. If the nurse hadn't come in it would have become awkward and that was something he definitely didn't want to happen.  
“I need to get some rest.”

Pepper

 _Remember, it is not going to help, if you tell him that these stupid drugs wont work. He will only get really worried, so stay calm and don't show how you really feel. Don't show that you could literally feel the whole operation while being nailed down inside your body and experiencing the worst pain of all time. Don't let him realize that you're still in pain. He only wants you to be okay._  
After the door closed behind Tony, Pepper smiled at the nurse, who blushed like crazy. Did she blushed the same, when Tony called her Miss Potts?  
“It is actually fine. I'm not in pain right now.”  
“Oh no, this is no pain killer, actually. This will help your body to accept the skin graft, so that you hopefully won't start rejecting it.”  
Despite her steady sounding response, the nurse was read from head to toe. It seemed like she was head over heels for Tony and Pepper couldn't help but get envious of her.  
Get yourself together, Pep. He's human, you are not. You are his protector and nothing more.  
But despite her thoughts, it was clear as day that she couldn't continue to lie to herself much longer. She should have stopped protecting him fourteen years ago already, when he was still a little kid who could easily forget. Instead she continued to sing for him. She chose to ignore her mothers and her fathers warnings and hummed the melody every single night for twenty-one years. And she fell for him. Completely.  
_I have to be honest with myself_ , she thought. _If I just could be an ordinary human... I would fight for his heart, his pure and loving heart. But I'm a mermaid..._  
Pepper was actually pretty young for a mermaid, she was only a few hundred years old, but the life of a human was so incredible much shorter. Her age included several human lifetimes and she would live forever. None of her kind would ever die of old age and if she was careful she would also have an eternal life.  
Maybe that was the reason that Pepper had this huge dispute with her parents a few weeks ago.  
While the nurse injected the medication into the infusion, Peppers thoughts wandered off and her memories took over, she fell asleep.

 _“Pepper, listen. It's not like I want to torture you or anything, but you know very well, that it isn't allowed to touch the children. What if he had awoken? There would have been no possibility for you to hide.”_  
 _“He's only a baby, mother. There is no way that he will remember anything in the future. And he didn't wake up. He just calmed down a bit. What else was I supposed to do? The melody didn't help at all.”_  
 _“It is not our duty to take away their nightmares, honey. We only make it less painful for them and sometimes they get peaceful dreams because of that”_  
 _Pepper turned away. Her mother didn't understand. It was painful for_ her _, that he had a nightmare. She could still see his tiny forehead and the wrinkles as he struggled with his dream. Tears running down his little face and his cute fingers grabbing for something. She could still hear him wimp quietly. Seeing him like that made_ her _cry. The only thing she could think of was touching him softly and as she gently caressed his cheek he finally calmed down. What she didn't expected was that he opened his beautiful brown eyes._  
 _She had to lie to her mother, the dominant woman would have gone crazy if she knew that Pepper and Tony had spent a few minutes starring each other into the eyes until he started giggling._  
 _“Mother...”_  
 _“No, young lady. You listen now. We have rules and these rules have a reason. What if he remembers you some day because you keep ignoring these? He will never be able to live a normal life. To humans we seem to be the most beautiful things in the world. Do you want him to-”_  
 _“Calm down, Myra. She said he didn't wake up, so he didn't see her. And as she already said, he is still a baby. Even if he did wake up or realized that there was someone, he has already forgotten about it.”_  
 _Karim, Pepper's father, interrupted his wife, as he entered the room of his youngest daughter._  
 _“Thank you, fa-”_  
 _“Don't. Your mother is right. No. More. Touching. Understood?”_  
 _That couldn't be true. Her father had always supported her. Why was he now against her?_  
 _“But-”_  
 _“No, Pepper.”_  
 _She frowned. “Fine.”_

_…_

_“You did WHAT?”_  
 _“Shhhhh! What if mother hears you? Or father? Or, even worse, grandma?”_  
 _“Well, they should hear about that! Pepper, you know that you are not supposed to go to the humans too often and every night? That's just insane.”_  
 _“But_ I can't sleep _anymore. He has nightmares on a regular basis, I can feel his fear all the time and no matter how much I sing or hum, he just_ won't calm down! _”_  
 _“How old is he?”_  
 _“Four. He's only four.”_  
 _“Well, only three more years then.”_  
 _Pepper couldn't hold back her tears anymore._  
 _“This is so frustrating!”, she pressed out. “No matter what I do, his nightmares keep coming and I can't help him!”_  
 _Stela didn't seem to know what she was supposed to do and in her confusion she called for grandma._  
 _“Grandmother!”_  
 _It didn't take her long to arrive. Grandma had always been Peppers pillar and she loved her dearly but she still didn't wanted her to be in her room._  
 _“Stela, what's... Oh dear... Pep, my child, come here.”_  
 _Ari understood immediately that something was wrong. “Stela, go and keep quiet. I take care of this.”_  
 _“Grandma... please...”_  
 _“It's fine. Just take your time and tell me what is going on when you are ready.”_  
 _“He... he's just so afraid, grandma...”_  
Just leave me alone. Please, I don't want you to see me like this.  
 _“He has one nightmare after another, almost every night... I want to help him, grandma, I want to help Tony...”_  
 _“You know his name.”_  
 _It didn't sound accusingly, just calm and full of empathy and slowly Peppers tears stopped falling. “You... you are not angry?”_  
 _Ari smiled. It was a sad smile but incredibly warm at the same time._  
 _“No I'm not. Do you know the most important difference between a normal song and the so called soul song?”_  
 _“My soul song is my last one. After it I won't have to sing anymore and can live my life the way I want to.”_  
 _Laughter._  
 _“That is indeed a difference, but by far not the most important one. The soul song comes, as the name suggests, from your own soul. You formed an emotional connection with little Tony and the more deeply you care for him, the stronger it becomes. Nowadays it is rare to develop a connection this strong with ones protege as yours is. No one will ever really understand how you feel and they will judge you because of that. But you must always treasure it because if you loose it, no matter the reason, it will always feel like a part of you is missing and there is no way to restore it, once it got lost. The soul song gives our kind a special chance and we are free to take this chance or continue our lives the way they were before.”_  
 _“What chance?”_  
 _Pepper saw her grandmother in the eye. For a human it would probably be incredible strange to call someone as young looking as Ari 'grandmother', but Pepper was used to it. Ari looked exactly like her granddaughter and since they both stopped aging, it looked like a girl starring into her reflection. Every mermaid and merman stopped aging at the age of twenty and since Pepper and Ari always looked younger than their actual age they both looked like sixteen or at most eighteen._  
 _“To grow up.”_

_…_

_Pepper stood next to Tony's bed. It was a double bed, not something someone would expect inside a room of a four year old kid, but more inside a bedroom of a grown up couple. The tiny child seemed to disappear under his blanket and all his stuffed animals._  
That was his mothers idea. Howard usually doesn't treat Tony like a kid.  
 _Tony suddenly woke up, she heard him breathe in deeply as he awoke from his nightmare._  
 _“Fairy?”, he whispered into the darkness of his room._  
 _“I'm here.”_  
 _She shouldn't do that, Pepper wasn't stupid. The more often she spend time with him, the longer it would take him to forget about her. But he was only four years old, tiny for his age and afraid. There was no way she would leave him alone like that._  
 _Tony jumped into her arms and she closed them tightly around him._  
 _“I was so afraid...”, he cried._  
 _“I know. And I am here now. I'll protect you.”_  
 _His scent. There was no way she would ever forget his scent. He smelled like fresh wood and little kid, mixed together with a tender note of motor oil._  
 _Softly she stroked his dark, curly hair and kissed his cheek._  
 _“Now go to sleep and I'll sing for you.”_  
 _“But only my song.”_  
 _Pepper smiled softly. “Only yours. As always.”_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wanted to update yesterday but it didn't work for various reasons so here it is today  
> I'm terribly sorry that it is this late again, hopefully I'll get better at this xD  
> As always I'm open for critics as long as you don't insult me :)  
> I hope you like it!

_Pepper_

She opened her eyes. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was. She wasn't inside Tony's room, but inside a hospital bed and the little boy in her memories had become a man...  
Fear.  
Pepper felt like she got hit by a train, when Tony's emotions brought her back into the now and then. The fear she felt was as strong as always and made her worry.  
_He is having a nightmare again. I need to help him._  
It was an easy decision between continue to lie in bed or to get the hell up and take his nightmare away.  
Luckily her wound didn't hurt as much as before, probably because it wasn't a gigantic hole anymore and thanks to the incredible healing abilities of her kind - she was recovering pretty fast.  
“Don't you dare to leave your bed, my dear daughter.”  
_Shit._  
Myra stood in front of Pepper, who just had tried to stand up.  
“Mother...”  
“There is no need for you to try to make excuses. Did you think I wouldn't realize that you were still singing? The only reason I didn't say anything was because I thought you knew what you were doing. But apparently you did not. You were still singing for that human. _I told you, over and over again that we have to follow the rules!_ But no, Pepper doesn't have to, because Pepper is special, and Pepper can do what she wants.”  
It hurt hearing her mother talk like that, but Pepper tried her best to not show her true feelings. It would only make it worse.  
“I tell you, it is enough. You are coming with me now, back home, and you won't come here again, for the next few hundred years.”  
“But mother, you can't do that. I'm almost twohundred and fifty years old!”  
“I can, and I will. You are still young, Pepper and believe me when I say that I know a bit more about life than you do. What you did was careless. It was dangerous and not only for you. It was dangerous for him too. You know the legends about the sailors, they don't come out of nowhere. If this continues, he will search for the voice and he will kill himself trying to find it.  
Maybe it isn't to late yet and he will survive. But if he doesn't, then it is your fault.  
Now come.”  
It couldn't be true. Myra would never act like that. Well, she wouldn't have before her twins were born.  
“You don't seem to understand me, mother. _I don't sing for my own peace of mind_ , I never have. I do everything to protect him, and I will never let him die. Every time I sung this melody, his melody, I did it for the kid that couldn't sleep, not for me. He is everything to me, more important than my life, more important than the rules, more important than _everything_. And I won't go with you.”  
“If you don't come with me, I'll take your powers, Pepper.”  
She changed. Her young boys changed Peppers mother more than anything.  
Maybe that was the reason why Stela had been so sad. Maybe Myra always lost a part of herself after giving birth to a child.  
Stela was the oldest daughter of Myra and over two thousand years old. After her, over twenty siblings followed, like Wade and the younger twin Logan - she must had known a completely different Myra.  
Pepper could only stare at her mother in shock. Taking away her powers? It was the most cruel thing anyone could do to a mermaid. Her powers were everything to her and if she couldn't sing anymore... it was impossible to imagine.  
The door squeaked as someone slowly opened it and Myra twirled around.  
“Don't you dare to take away her powers.”  
The voice sounded familiar but strange at the same time.  
“Mom?”  
“Yes, my dear daughter, it's me, your mother.”  
Ari stepped into the room and Pepper gasped. She looked older than before.  
“You were gone, you just disappeared fourteen years ago! What the hell did you do? And why do you look so... _old_?”  
“You have no right to speak to me in that tone. I do what I want, don't forget that.”  
It was weird. Seeing her grandmother like that, confused Pepper and she stood up.  
“Grandma? What... what happened to you?”  
A bright smile lightened Ari's face up. “It's just as I told you, I'm growing up. If our kind leaves the ocean, we all start to age after a few weeks.”  
Suddenly the fear came back. Much stronger than before, and Pepper's heart began to race. She clutched her chest and sunk onto her knees. Tears fell out of her eyes, as she felt him.  
“No...”, she whispered and helplessly stared at her grandmother.  
Ari didn't hesitate. She stepped next to Pepper and helped her standing up.  
“You go, I'll take care of your mother.”  
Myra was near explosion. “Leave her to me! She is my kid I -”  
“Don't.”  
More wasn't necessary. The enraged Mermaid fell silent as she watched.  
“Stay with him as long as he needs you and then go home. I'll wait there.”  
Pepper nodded and left the room. She had to go to him as soon as possible. Tony's fear got worse the more time passed and he didn't wake up. He rarely woke up from his nightmares on his own, he always suffered from the beginning to the end and someone else had to bring him back.  
“Just a little while longer, I'm almost with you. Just be strong for a little while longer.”

_Myra_

Incredible. Her own mother.  
“You have no right to do that!”  
Myra finally exploded. “She is my daughter and I tell her what to do and what not! You have no right to say what she is supposed to do!”  
“And you have no right to force her to accept our rules. Do you remember why these rules were made? And what I told you about them?”  
Of course Myra remembered. How could she forget? It had been a terrible time for her people.  
“Of course I remember.”  
“Then tell me!”  
That was difficult. There was no problem with her memories but she didn't want to accept that her mother was technically right.  
“Why? Pepper is my daughter and she is still young. It is my _duty_ to protect her from stupid decisions.”  
“She became an adult over two hundred years ago. Accept that and let her make her own decisions, her own mistakes. Tell me.”  
Myra pressed her lips together.  
There was no way she could ever forget.  
“We were dying and we set up the rules to save our race. You told me that I wouldn't be allowed to force the people to accept these. Most of them saw the need of these rules and accepted them on their own, others decided not to. It took us thousands of years to restore our population because some refused to believe in them. You disappeared again, I made these rules a law. Everyone who ignored the law, had to suffer through the consequences. A hundred years of isolation and no possibility to go to the humans.”  
“What did I tell you, when I came back?”  
Myra spit the words out. “You told me I was cruel. You made me take back the law.”  
“But you didn't.”  
“Of course not! These laws make sure that we survive! They ensure a growing population! There are more humans then there are mermaids out there and - “  
“No excuses! These laws are terribly cruel! The only reason Pepper hasn't suffered the consequences is because she is your daughter! How many other mermaids in the last ten thousand years were forced to live isolated? Were forced to let their humans suffer?”  
“Just a very small amount, maybe twenty people? They all know how important my laws are!”  
“No, they don't! They are afraid of you! These rules were important when we almost died a few hundred thousand years ago, now they are only an instrument of yours to make people obedient.”  
Ari stared her daughter directly into the eyes and Myra could see the wrinkles around hers. It disgusted her to see her mother like that. She looked like a human, old and weak and with every passing second she got older.  
“Look at you. What happened to you? You weren't like that when I was still young. Now you are pathetic. You want to come back and rule again? Like you used to? There is no chance that this is going to happen. You stay here, grow old and die, like these disgusting humans you love so much. I'll maintain peace in the ocean.”  
Sadness clouded Ari's face. “The question is rather, what happened to you. You used to be my favorite daughter, brilliant, beautiful and doing everything for the sake of others. You used to be happy all the time.”  
“Your favorite daughter? I could laugh at that if it weren't such an ugly lie! I'm your only daughter! I'm the only child you ever had!”  
“Of course not! Who told you this? That is not true! You are the only daughter I have left! I had four children and you should know that very well.”  
“They weren't your children. These kids? They were disgusting beings, half human, half mermaid. They choose to live with the humans and die with them. I am the only real daughter!”  
Ari shook her head in disbelieve.  
“But you had the same father, Myra. You have always been half human, like your siblings.”  
“You know very well, that I'm a mermaid. I have my own fishtail, my siblings didn't have one. I could sing, they couldn't. You had to bring me to the ocean so that I could survive and you left behind the others for me. I am a mermaid. That tiny little bit of human blood that refused me to sing for human children is unimportant.”  
Myra's face was that of a statue. No emotions showed how she really felt, it never showed.  
Of course she knew that she was half human. How couldn't she know? Her siblings? The only way for her to ever see them was to hide and watch them in secret. They always seemed happy to be able to fool around with their father. Myra also wanted to be with him, but whenever she asked her mother, Ari had become very sad.

_“You can't, my dear. They don't know that you exist.”_   
_“Why not? Why don't they know who I am?”_   
_“Because you are different, Myra. They wouldn't be able to understand you.”_   
_“Don't they know you are a mermaid?”_   
_“No, they don't. They would kill me if they knew.”_

_Tony_

Her voice. Her voice was back.  
He took a deep breath, as the nightmare slowly faded away and he opened his eyes.  
And there she stood. The most beautiful human being he had ever seen, her eyes closed, as she sung his melody.  
It was the woman he saved.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I'm going to upload only every one and a half weeks, looks like I'm unable to upload more often *laughs*  
> I'm not really confident with this chapter actually, but I hope you still like it. Maybe it isn't that bad at all, who knows :)  
> And I definitely have to add now, that I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE so if I write some nonsense, I'm terribly sorry about that  
> I'm terribly sorry about any nonsense in general, so feel free to tell me what is wrong and what you like and so on :)

_Tony_

At the beginning he just looked at her, without moving or making any noise, but after a while he couldn't resist anymore and brought himself into a sitting position.  
Pepper just continued to sing to him, the eyes still closed and Tony took this as a chance to really see her.  
He already knew that Peppers hair was incredibly long, but seeing it while she was standing was still a difference. The soft, red waves seemed to flow over her shoulders, down to her feet, almost touching the ground. Two thick strands covered her naked breasts and created an extreme contrast between the strong color of her hair and her white skin.  
Her other intimate part of the body was covered with a very thin blue fabric, that ended a few centimeters over her knees, so that he could see her very long legs.  
The only thing that spoiled her perfect look was the snow white bandage around her stomach, where she got hurt.  
Tony had to breath in deeply. She really was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  
Then the singing suddenly stopped and her eyes opened. Her eyes. Never in his life had there been any person with eyes as beautiful as hers. At the moment they were very dark and the color wasn't really recognizable, but he knew that they were blue. Depending on the light they would change their color from a very bright, to a very dark blue, from the sky in the middle of the day, to the sky in the middle of the night.  
She didn't say anything, she just smiled at him and the next second she was gone, as if she had never been in his room.  
“Pepper...”, he whispered and lied down again.

The next day he almost convinced himself that it had only been a dream.  
Of course she couldn't have been in his room, that was ridiculous.  
Taking a deep breath he left his bed and started to get ready, a hard day was waiting for him, since he canceled every meeting the day before.  
“It was a dream. Just a dream. And now get ready, you need to be in your company.”  
A few minutes later someone knocked.  
“Tony I have been waiting for almost an hour. Get up now.”  
Rhodey.  
_Shit, we were supposed to meet two hours ago. I overslept._  
“I'm sorry, I overslept. Just wait a second.”  
Tony washed his face, trying to wake himself up. It had been a while since he had slept this long, almost six hours, he usually was fine after four hours or even less.  
Maybe the nightmare he had the other day took it's toll on him, who knew.  
“... believe it, the mighty Anthony Edward Stark overslept. Usually he lets me waiting on purpose but this one time he overslept.”  
“Are you serious right now? You are talking to yourself?”  
The question slipped right out of Tony's mouth after he almost hit his best friend, James Rhodes, with the door.  
“You talk to yourself all the time.”  
“I'm a scientist. It's a part of our job description. Let's go. What is first?”  
“I'm not your secretary, Tony.”  
“I know.”  
Rhodey sighed. “You have a meeting with the military, with my boss, Stane will be there too. You are supposed to present your first weapon, you know, as a sign that Stark Industries will still cooperate with us.”  
“Right. And after that?”  
“The first conference with your team. You are supposed to talk to them, assure them that they are doing a fine, a good job. Why am I telling you this? Where is your assistant?”  
“She is sick. She called me yesterday.”  
“Are you sure she really is sick, or did you offend her somehow?”  
“I didn't. I even sent her home early yesterday.”  
“I hope you are right.”  
“Of course I am. Now, let's get to work.”  
Tony smiled at his best friend and Rhodey shook his head, grinning.

_Rhodey_

Tony acted weird.  
The whole time he couldn't really concentrate, he was distracted by something.  
“I'm sorry, what were you saying?”  
“Mister Stark. If you keep asking this question, we will never finish. If you could please concentrate and finally give an answer we could all go home.”  
Rhodey frowned. Being rude never helped, it would only make Tony angry.  
The new CEO of Stark Industries clenched his fist under the table, but seemed to be able to hold back his anger. At least for the moment.  
Since Rhodey was new to the military, a recruit, the only reason he was able to take part in this conversation was because of his connections to Tony. They hoped that he would be able to convince his best friend to continue to cooperate with them, if he had doubts.  
Which was a very funny reason since there was not a single thing in the world Rhodey could Tony convince to do, if the young and insanely rich man didn't want to.  
“Sir, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt you, but if you could let me speak to Mister Stark for a second...”  
“Why should I let you-”  
Rhodey's supervisor interrupted.  
“Sure.”  
He touched the shoulder of the young soldier and got close to his ear. “Make sure that Mister Stark focuses on what is important. It is very important to us that we don't loose his support.”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
Tony was near explosion.  
“How _dare_ he! Speaking to me like that, doesn't he know who I am? He is supposed to treat me with respect, not like I am a little rat!”  
“Don't get too arrogant, Tony. Just what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so distracted?”  
“I don't know. I...”  
“Well, it doesn't really matter at the moment anyway. Just get a grip of yourself, you usually aren't like that. Try to focus. Do you have something for him? A weapon at least?”  
“Not really. I have a prototype of a gun but it hasn't been tested yet so I have no idea if it is usable.”  
“It is something. Show it to them. They need to know what they are at, if your company will still work for them.”  
“I don't even know why this is necessary. Why would I ever stop selling my weapons to the military? It is my best source of income. It wouldn't make any sense.”  
“Then tell them this. That is all you need to do. And show them the prototype. Even if you never sell it, it shows them that you are doing something.”  
“Fine. I'll just show them what I've got and make sure that they know how important they are to me. Is that all you want?”  
“No, I still want to know why you are acting so weird today, but this will have to wait. And now go and act like a CEO.”  
It had been a while since Rhodey talked to Tony like that, but sometimes it was necessary.  
After the little chat, Tony completely changed. He seemed more interested and professional and even excused his behavior from before.  
“Thank you, James.”  
“No problem, Sir.”

_Pepper_

_Oh God he saw me! He saw me standing inside his room! What am I supposed to do now?_  
When he had been a baby, she didn't care at all because she knew he would forget again but now Tony was twenty-one years old and he would definitely not forget that there had been a woman inside his bedroom that suddenly just disappeared.  
_Maybe he'll think it was only a dream. Maybe-_  
She span round, when she heard that someone knocked onto her door.  
_Shit. I am supposed to lie in bed, what the hell am I going to say?_  
Since she went back to the hospital, into her room, she had been walking back and forth, without thinking about her injury. While it didn't really matter since she healed fast, it would still be weird, humans needed way longer to recover from something like this.  
The door slowly opened and Pepper heard two people talking. Luckily she was close to her bed, she could say that she had been on the toilet.  
_Just keep calm. Don't show how fast your heart is racing. Act normal._  
It wasn't until she slowly got into bed, that she remembered the nature of these stupid hospital clothing. Her bare back and... more was exposed.  
“Oh heavens!”, someone said.  
It was Tony's voice.  
“Well... That was unexpected.”  
“Why...”  
Hastily Pepper covered herself with the blanket, her face flaming red, now looking at the two people.  
Tony looked at the opposite wall, away from Pepper, the other man covered his eyes.  
“Why didn't you say anything? I would have waited.”  
“You should have waited until she said something, Tony. Sometimes you can be so ignorant and selfish it is incredible.”  
“No one asked you, Rhodes.”  
“I-It's fine. You can look now... I'm sorry, Tony is right I-”  
“No he is not, he should have waited. I'm James Rhodes, his best friend, unfortunately.”  
James Rhodes looked at her and hold his hand out, so that she could take and shake it.  
Nervous Pepper laid her shaky hand into his, he was warm and seemed to be calm. At the same time her eyes met Tony's, who immediately looked to the ground, his cheeks as red as hers.  
“You were right, she looks exactly like the woman you described.”  
_He told him._  
“Rhodey! Stop that. It was a dream, nothing more.“  
_Does he really believe that?_  
Pepper should have been relieved, but instead she felt a little disappointed.  
Somehow she wished he knew that it had been her who sang for him and had been standing in his room. Naked.  
_I was naked. I... I completely forgot about that._  
It wasn't unusual for a mermaid to be naked, they almost never wore any clothes, only under certain circumstances, but to be naked inside the room of the man she- _No. Don't even_ think _that, Pepper. Don't even think that._  
“I just wanted to make sure that you are alright.”, Tony suddenly said and tore her out of her thoughts.  
“Oh, yes, I'm fine. The doctor says that I'll be able to go home tomorrow.”  
“That sounds good. Were you able to contact your family? Parents, brothers, sisters?”  
“Yes, of course. They... They are going to pick me up. And you don't have to pay my bills or anything, my family will take care of it.”  
“Are you sure? If it is too much, I can pay it. It doesn't matter, I definitely have enough money.”  
“No! No, it's fine. We could never accept that.”  
“Miss Potts” Pepper jumped, she had almost forgotten about James Rhodes.  
“Please do us all a favor and accept his offer. It will make him feel better and give me peace. If you don't accept he will annoy me the next few weeks and I really don't need that. He only wants to make sure that everything is alright and he didn't lie, he can afford it.”  
Rhodes didn't look at her, while telling this, instead he watched Tony. He seemed to wait for a reaction and when he got one, his expression changed. He looked confused and satisfied at the same time, as well as gleeful.  
Tony was just relieved.  
It really did matter to him that Pepper accepted his offer. She didn't even think about it that way, she only thought that it would be a burden to him.  
“Well, I saw what I came for. I'll leave you alone now. Tony, tomorrow you will be on time or I will kick your ass like that one time, you know what I mean. Miss Potts, I hope you will get better soon.”  
For a few seconds after Rhodes left, Pepper and Tony just looked at each other. She could spend hours a day just looking into these beautiful brown eyes, with eyelashes that could make every woman jealous and she would give almost everything just to be able to run her fingers through his soft hair again. It had been years since she last touched him.  
“You were in my room.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DEAR GOD I ADDED THIS CHAPTER TO THE WRONG STORY I'M LUCKY I REALIZED IT THE SECOND I POSTED IT 
> 
> I'm so stupid :'D  
> Now, I'm terribly sorry for the late update but stuff happened and I couldn't update last week, so here it is  
> (Yes, there is missing an explanation, but no, I'm not going to write it again and why does this always want my words to start with a capital letter this is annoying)
> 
> Next, I actually wanted to integrate this into the story but I forgot it in the beginning and now it seems somehow weird to randomly throw it in, so I'm going to explain it now. If I don't do this, you'll probably be confused.  
> My mermaids cannot talk underneath the water. They have gills like fish on their necks and that's how they breathe inside the water. As soon as their heads aren't under water anymore their gills close and they breath like normal humans through nose and mouth.  
> Because of that their buildings at the bottom of the sea are partly filled with air, so that they are able to talk to each other.  
> How they do that, I will explain in the story later. 
> 
> Now I really seem to be a little pissed of, but in truth I'm not xD  
> I'm just happy I was finally able to update it and extremely relieved that I realized my mistake (almost) in time and not like a week later xD  
> So I hope you enjoy it :)

_Pepper_

She couldn't say anything. What was she supposed to say anyway?  
“I saw you. At first I tried to tell myself that it must have been a dream, that there was no chance in hell that you could leave the hospital, find my house and just be there, singing for me.”  
“What changed your mind?”  
She was surprised at how calm she sounded. Her heart was racing incredibly fast and she was sweating like crazy, but no one would have ever guessed that, that was how calm her voice was.  
“I saw you. I came here, took Rhodey with me, to make sure I wouldn't act weird or anything and looked at you. There was no way it could have been a dream. It was too real. “  
Tony reached out to her and took a strand of hair into his hand.  
“It is even softer than I thought it would be...”, he murmured.  
_What do I say to something like that?_  
“Why do you sing? I hear your voice as long as I can remember, almost every night. Why?”  
“To protect you.”  
She only whispered, unable to speak louder.  
“Protect me from what?”  
“Your nightmares.”  
She didn't really realize that she wasn't lying in her bed anymore until she was so close to Tony that she could have touched him.  
“My nightmares...”  
“You had them almost every night, since you were a baby. It was my duty to protect you.”  
“What do you mean, your duty? And how is this possible? You are a teenager, barely a woman.”  
Pepper smiled softly and laid her hand on his cheek.  
“Do you remember your fairy?”  
“I never told anyone. No one would have believed me, my father would have been angry. Later I thought it had been a dream.”  
“She looked a lot like me, didn't she?”  
_What am I doing? I am not supposed to tell anyone! My mother is going to kill me!_  
“She... she might have... I don't really remember her. I just know that she left me one day, just like that. I was... heartbroken. I loved her.”  
“I know. You really did love me.”  
“Did she... did you love me too?”  
Suddenly he sounded insecure, like a kid, the way he sounded when Pepper left him at his fifth birthday. He grabbed her hand on his cheek and his eyes begged for an answer.  
Another soft smile.  
“Yes.”, she answered. “Yes, I do.”  
And then she kissed him.  
It was different than she had expected it, but so, so much better.  
He let go of her hand and pulled her closer to him instead, while she was running her hands through is soft hair. It felt the exact same way she had remembered.  
The kiss started completely harmless but it got demanding really fast. Tony's soft lips felt so much better than she could have ever imagined and when he gently bit into her lower lip, Pepper gasped.  
_He... He's perfect. God knows how much I love him. I always loved him._

_Tony_

He could still taste her. It had been three days since they kissed, but he could still feel her lips on his.  
_I shouldn't have done that. She was hurt, she didn't know what she was doing. I should just have grabbed her shoulders, moved her away from me and told her that it wasn't a good idea._  
He decided to completely ignore, that she hadn't hesitated in the slightest and that she seemed to know exactly what she was doing.  
_I should tell her that, when I see her again._  
Pepper wanted to meet him again and Tony had agreed to it. But when he asked how he would able to contact her, she just smiled and said: “Just meet me in five days, at the beach were you found me. I will be there and I will explain everything to you.”  
After that he left her, but not without kissing her a second time. He had to feel and taste her again, even though he felt horrible after that.  
_I am so incredible stupid._  
Rhodey poked into Tony's side.  
“Are you awake? Do you even listen?”  
“Stop that! And of course I am listening.”  
“No, you are not. Is it that woman again? Usually you don't think so much about one single person except maybe yourself.”  
“That's not true and you know that.”  
“Right, you are second. First of all you think about your imaginary friend. Listen. I saw her, I know she is pretty and all. But she isn't worth the trouble. Just find yourself someone who will stay one night, as usual and then return to your life again. When you are like this, I can't even talk to you about anything.”  
“I'm sorry. I'm listening.”  
“I was just telling you about this one guy. He loves to...”  
It was impossible, Tony couldn't concentrate on a single word his best friend was saying.  
His mind was filled with Pepper, with their kiss and with what was going to happen at the beach. After a few moments he interrupted him.  
“Rhodey, I'm terribly sorry... I think I am tired and I will go to bed now. Could you please go home? I really am sorry about that...”  
Rhodey shook his head. “Just don't call me for a while. Get your stuff done and when you are finally ready to focus on other things again, I'll be there for you. But definitely not earlier.”  
_Great. You just hurt your best friend._  
“I'm terribly sorry...”  
“If you say that you're sorry just _one more time_ I'm going to hit you. _It's fine_. Everyone needs time for oneself once in a while, even you. The only problem I have is that _you_ can't see that. Just... Just put yourself first from time to time. That's all I want. And _that_ is the reason you are not allowed to call me. Not because I'm angry or anything. You're my best friend and I will be there for you if there is any kind of trouble.  
But at the moment the only thing you need is time to think and I'm giving you this time alone, if you want it or not. So don't call me for at least two weeks.”  
Rhodey stood up and left, without saying anything else.  
I really hurt him, he just doesn't want to admit it.

_Rhodey_

“She is trouble. Find yourself a woman for one night like usual. Good advice, Rhodes, very good advice.”  
Never in his life had Rhodey wanted to hit himself more than after he had said these words.  
“Why did I say that? That's not even what I want. I want him to be _with_ her. At least for the moment.  
And why the hell am I talking to myself? Now that's even more stupid.”  
Was he jealous because he seemed more interested in her than in his best friend? That was unfair. Since College they had been friends and since then Tony had listened to every single problem Rhodey had had. There was no reason for him to be jealous just because someone except him was occupying the thoughts of his best friend. On the contrary, he should have been concerned that it hadn't been like that until almost a week ago. That had been weird behavior.  
Back inside his own home he got himself something to drink and to eat and started watching TV.

_Stela_

Pepper had been extremely nervous these past days and Stela started to worry about her.  
“Pepper? Are you okay?”  
“Yeah, I'm fine.”  
“You don't seem to be fine. It's been two hours and you are still trying to find something to wear. It's warm. There is no need for you to put on some clothes.”  
The room of her younger sister looked like a real mess. Bikini tops where lying around everywhere, even floating on top of the water, as well as other stuff.  
“I _need_ a bikini. I'm going to the beach tonight.”  
“That makes even less sense. It's new moon. You can't go to the beach. You won't get legs, you'd just... I don't know, just fidget around like a fish on dry ground.”  
“I didn't say I would walk around, I'm staying inside the water of course.”  
“Then what do you want there?”  
Stela reached out and wanted to turn Pepper around, but instead she had to evade the long and very wet red strands of hair that were almost hitting her face. She had turned around herself.  
“Don't tell mother, please!”  
“Of... of course not. What is it?”  
“I'm going to meet him.”  
“Him?”  
“The boy, Stela. My boy. Well, except he is no boy anymore...”  
“Oh no! Forget it, I won't let you go. There is no way I'm going to let you go and tell a human about our existence. No way. This is a secret, Pepper! If anyone ever finds out they will hunt and kill us! They-”  
“He won't tell anyone. Tony already knows a bit but he didn't-”  
“ _He already knows something_? Are you f- are you insane? What if he tells someone?”  
“You didn't let me finish at all. He already knows something about me but he didn't tell his best friend about it.”  
“And that is supposed to make me feel better? I tell you something. That. Doesn't. Help. At. All. Maybe he didn't tell because he wasn't sure about it. Maybe he wants to do something with you in secret, maybe-”  
“I've known him his entire life, Stela. He won't say anything. He is the kindest person in this world he-”  
“Oh dear God and I thought it couldn't get worse. He is your soul song. You didn't stop singing. He saw you. How old is he now? Eighteen? Nineteen?”  
“Twenty-one. Please, you can't tell mother about this. Promise me.”  
“Twenty-one. And he saw you.”  
“He saved my life! Of course he saw me.”  
“You know exactly that I didn't mean it like that. He saw you singing for him.”  
“He might have...”  
“This is the worst crime possible. If mother finds out... You know what is going to happen to you.”  
“And that is the reason why no one is supposed to know. Don't tell her, Stela. Please.”  
Pepper had always been Stela's favorite sibling. Since her mother didn't bother to spent much time with the little mermaid, Stela basically raised her and it was almost as if Pepper was her own daughter. She loved her more than anything in the world and the thought of loosing her... She couldn't bear with it.  
Stela sighted. “Fine. I wont tell her. And you can go. But if you don't come back tomorrow I will get you and lock you up inside your room until you come to your senses.  
Now let's look for the right top.”

“You love him.”  
It had been almost an hour since they spoke the last words.  
“I know I shouldn't but... If you knew him... Tony is the most gentle person I've ever met. He cares for others more than for himself and he never shows any weakness.  
Even as a child he refused to cry in front of others, partly because his father would have become angry, partly because he didn't want his mother to worry. He'd only cried in his bed, in the middle of the night, when he dreamed. I have been there. I saw it. And I cried with him.”  
A moment it looked like Pepper was unsure if she should continue talking, but after a few seconds she proceeded.  
“One night... he was two, maybe three years old, he saw me. And I became his fairy. I couldn't be with him every night, of course not, but whenever it was possible, I stayed with him. Until he became five.  
I knew if I'd stayed longer he would have never forgotten me and I couldn't risk that.  
So I didn't go to see him again. Until five days ago. When I was inside the hospital and I felt his fear... I hadn't been able to help him since I got hurt, I barely hold on to my consciousness, and singing in that condition had been impossible. So when I could move again... I needed to see him. I needed to make sure he was alright, not for him, but for myself.  
My heart started racing the moment I realized that he was watching me. I really didn't want him to see me but when he did... I just couldn't bring myself to panic and ran away.  
With my racing heart I finished singing for him and just looked at him. You should have seen the look in his eyes. There was no fear, not even surprise in his eyes. As if he secretly knew that it had been me.  
You are right. I love him. More than anything. I always have and I always will.”  
Stela couldn't breathe.  
Pepper's story had brought back her own feelings. The feelings she had towards her soul song.  
It had been a girl, a beautiful little girl. This little beauty had been a very happy child, with almost no nightmares, but Stela had sung for her anyway.  
And then came her seventh birthday. Since the little one had lived in the fourteenth century and had been the daughter of a noble family, she had been forced to marry a fifty year old man.  
Stela had felt her sadness and fear but she followed the rules of her people and stopped singing.  
After that the girl lived a horrifying life, full of fear and hatred until she died at the age of seventeen during the birth of her fifth child.  
Stela had never been able to forgive herself for that. Maybe... if she had refused to obey the rules...  
But it didn't matter. The bond broke seven hundred years ago and it could never be restored.  
“I wont tell mother.”  
It wasn't easy for Stela to say that, she had always looked up to Myra and it felt like betraying her. But maybe it was time for that. Her mother had changed a long time ago and the gentle, warm person she used to be was no more.  
“But you have to promise me that you come back. I love you, Pepper and I don't want to loose you.”  
And this time she really meant it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT FOR THE FIRST TIME I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF  
> I am able to upload this chapter only a week after the last one for the first time and that makes me incredibly happy.  
> But sadly I am not sure if I'll be able to upload next week since It's my birthday and my sister is going to visit me...  
> Well, we'll see :)  
> Now I hope you like it :)

_Tony_

_I shouldn't have come._  
_She isn't here, she lied to you, you have to accept that._  
Tony had been waiting for almost an hour, when he decided that Pepper wouldn't come.  
_Why am I waiting anyway? I have so much more to do, stuff that's way more important than waiting for a woman I've kissed once. Or twice._  
But despite his thoughts he kept waiting, hoping that he was wrong, that she would come.  
Instead of going home, he started to walk across the beach.  
It was a gray and windy day, unusual for this time of the year and almost no one was there, which was pretty convenient, since Tony wanted to be alone.  
Maybe that was also the reason he was able to hear it. A voice, faint and far away, almost impossible to detect. If the wind hadn't stopped for a second he wouldn't have heard it at all.  
Eager to help the calling person he looked around, trying to find the owner of that voice, and was shocked, as he saw someone inside the ocean, far away from the beach.  
The person was waving like crazy, as if he or she had been able to see him for quite some time and Tony ripped his clothes of.  
There was no way he would let this idiot die inside the stormy sea.  
_Not as cold as I expected, but still incredibly cold._  
The waves pulled him away from the beach, faster than he had anticipated and for a second he started to panic until he remembered what he wanted to do.  
He didn't have time to panic at all, he was out there to save a helpless person.  
A helpless person with very red hair.  
A helpless person that didn't seem to be afraid at all and looked an awful lot like Pepper.  
A not-so-helpless Pepper.  
“Tony, oh my goodness you are mad!”, she said, as he reached her.  
“Mad?”, he panted. “You are the mad one, what are you doing here?”  
“Waiting for you. I called you over and over again but you didn't hear me at all.”  
“But why inside the ocean?”  
“Because I need to tell you something... I... I can't walk right now.”  
“What? What are you talking-”  
He couldn't finish. His legs just hit something and it wasn't legs.  
Because of the rough sea he couldn't really see through the water, so instead he starred at Pepper.  
“Hold on tight. I'll bring you to another place. A place where I can get you out of the water and stay close to you, your lips are starting to turn blue.”  
“I still don't understand-”  
“Just breathe in deeply. We will dive, that way I can swim better. If you need air just poke me or something.”  
“Poke you? What are you talking about?”  
“Just do it! You'll freeze to death!”  
Unable to find more words, Tony gave in and took a deep breath before diving under.  
He tried to open his eyes, but the salty water was burning and he couldn't really see anything, so he closed them again. That was the moment they started moving at an incredible speed.  
Pepper's arms were tightly wrapped around his body and prevented him from slipping away and getting lost inside the ocean and before he even had the chance to poke her, they had already arrived.  
Tony gasped as he broke through the surface and immediately opened his eyes, just to see fine red cuts closing on Pepper's neck, only scars remaining.  
“I found that cave when I first escaped from my mother. She used to be a very good woman but with every passing day she became more cold and cruel so I ran away from home.  
Over there should be some rocks where you can sit, they should still be pretty warm from the heat these past few days...”  
She seemed to be terrified of something, her eyes were avoiding him and her fingers were clutching each other tightly.  
During the short moment of silence while Tony swam to the rocks and pulled himself up so he was sitting on them, the air became thick of tension.  
In order to release this tension he decided to ask the first question he had asked her before.  
“Why do you think I'm mad?”  
It worked. Her head turned so fast, he feared Pepper would break her neck and she glanced at him as if he had lost his mind. Again.  
“Because you just ripped your clothes of and jumped into the raging sea!”  
“What else was I supposed to do? I thought you were drowning and I wanted to help you.”  
She had changed. Inside the hospital it had seemed like nothing in this world could disturb her but now Tony could see her emotions in her face as clear as he could see the rocks she showed him just a second ago.  
“You... You are right... I- I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to see you and show you what... But my mind just stopped there... When I saw you...”  
Her fear was back, but this time she didn't look away.  
“You are afraid.”  
A shaky smile on her lips, she nodded.  
“Looks like it.”, she said.  
“But why? You were the one who wanted this meeting. You said you wanted to show me something. What are you afraid of now?”  
“Your reaction. I don't want to scare you away.”  
Tony frowned. “You won't.”  
“Yes, I will, but I don't want to I just-”  
“No, you _won't_. Just show me.”  
It was incredible how much Pepper's behavior differed from the way she had acted inside the hospital, as if she had become a completely different person these past few days.  
Instead of a strong willed woman he was looking into the eyes of a insecure teen, who didn't knew how to confess to her crush, and it confused him.  
“Show me.”

_Pepper_

He looked at her with a warm and soft gaze, his voice calm and reassuring.  
“Show me. You won't scare me away, I promise.”  
Tony stretched his arm out, offered her his hand, so that she would come closer and maybe even sit next to him on these rocks.  
Slowly, her fingers shaking like crazy, she grabbed him and he pulled her directly in front of him. He took Pepper's face in his hands and gently forced her to look him directly into the eyes.  
“You won't scare me away...”, he whispered and kissed her.  
His lips were still wet and salty from the water but the kiss was soft and warm, without demanding anything. Just a soft touch.  
When they parted, her heart had calmed down a bit, and her fear had almost disappeared, making it possible for her to start talking.  
“Tony... I- I'm not human...”  
Pepper waited for a reaction, but Tony just continued looking at her, without a hint of surprise in his features, and somehow this helped her telling him everything.  
“I'm not human. I am a mermaid, as you call it, and as I already told you, it was my duty to protect you from your nightmares. That is the duty of every mermaid.  
Usually we protect children until the day of their seventh birthday and after that a new child is assigned to us. Then, often after a few hundred, sometimes even thousand years a mermaid gets a special child. And with that special child we get a special song, we call it the soul song. After that we never have to sing anymore and we can live a normal life, have a husband, have children...”  
“Show it to me. Show me your fin.”  
He really didn't seem to be afraid or in shock or anything, just curious and excited.  
Breathing in deeply, Pepper put her hands on the rock Tony was sitting on, pushing her heavy body up, exposing her fish tail, the scales gleaming in different shades of a deep and dark blue.  
As she was sitting next to him, she lifted the rest out of the water, showing him the very thin and delicate end of her tail, her fin. Only then she dared looking at him again.  
His eyes had become big, his face bright read, as he starred at her exposed mermaid body.  
Tony swallowed hard, and turned to her, his arm hovering over her fish tail.  
“Can I-?”  
His eyes begged for her permission and as she nodded, he touched her.  
Tony's hands softly glided over her scales, sending shivers down her spine. She had never let anyone touch her like this and as she felt her heart hammering against her chest, she knew why.  
Somehow she had always known that it would be the most intimate gesture of all, even more intimate then having sex.  
A few moments passed until Tony stopped. Instead he grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest.  
“Can you feel it?”, he asked.  
Instead of an answer, Pepper kissed him.  
His heart was racing as if it wanted to jump out of his chest, his reply to the kiss almost desperate.  
“You're the most wonderful and amazing woman I've ever met. You're perfect, everything about you. How could you even think that I would be afraid of you? I've known you for so long, even if it was just your voice, there was no way I would _ever_ be afraid of you.”  
_I love you, Tony. I love you so much._

Pepper had no idea how long they stayed inside that cave but as it got darker outside and colder inside the cave, she decided it was time to bring him back to the beach.  
They had been talking about everything and nothing at all, sometimes just looking at each other, without saying anything and they had kissed each other. And with every passing moment her love for this man had grown stronger and stronger.  
“We should go now, Tony. It's getting dark.”  
He smiled.  
“I wish I could stay here all night with you.”  
Her heart jumped.  
“But you can't. You'll get sick. You might be sick already. I'll bring you as close to the beach as I can. You should go home and take a really long and hot bath.”  
“Why can't you go to the beach? I mean you had legs when I found you, what is different this time?”  
“It is new moon. Once every month we loose the ability to turn into humans and our voice becomes weak. On full moon, on the contrary, our voice is the strongest and we loose our fish tails.”  
Disappointment. Pepper could see that Tony was disappointed and somehow that made her heart race even more than his kisses.  
“I will come to you as soon as I can. I promise.”, she told him in order to lift his spirits.  
“You don't have to promise.”, Tony replied. “I already know you will come. And when you are back, you will sing my song, and only mine.”  
He looked deep into her eyes, waiting for her to say something, as tears started to fall from her eyes.  
“Only yours. As always.”, she whispered.

_Someone at the beach_

He watched through his binoculars how Tony Stark came out of the water. The man was only wearing a shirt and underwear, as he knelt down to search something. Then he seemed to hear someone and he turned around. His face was turned to the ocean and he was waving at someone.  
The man turned and found her.  
_There she is. Finally I have found you, my muse._  
It had been a good decision to start to spy on Stark. Since he knew that this rich asshole had found a beautiful woman on the beach with very long red hair, he had been spying on him, hoping that they would meet each other again.  
And they did, even though the man had to wait over six hours to find that out.  
The man pulled his pager out of his pocket and sent a message.  
It was a code and the meaning of it was only known to a hand full of people.  
_The woman has been found._

_In another country, on the other side of the world_

“Oh dear, she has been found. I knew that she wouldn't be able to hide forever.”  
“No! Leave her alone, you have me, that should be enough!”  
“Though... You couldn't call that hiding, since she doesn't know that we have been watching her for quite some time, right?”  
If it were possible to kill someone with a glare, the woman would certainly have died at that moment. The machine was starring at her as if it wanted to murder her. What it probably wanted.  
“Look. It is your fault in the first place. If you hadn't talked in your dream all these years ago, we wouldn't know about her existence. You knew that she was special, even among your kind, even more special than you are and you were worried about her. Somehow you saw it fit to tell your environment about it while sleep talking and we listened. It is understandable that we are interested in her now.”  
“I don't know what you are talking about. She isn't special at all.”  
“Oh, don't bullshit me. What did you call her again? A _siren_?”  
The machine went pale.  
“I didn't...”, it whispered and the woman laughed.  
“Yes you did. And what could be more powerful than a siren? A mermaid able to kill just with her voice? You are right. Nothing.”  
She turned away and pointed at someone.  
“You, do the thing. You know, the brain washing thing. I want it completely blank, no memories, or we are going to have the same problem we had last time. And I am pretty sure no one wants that again. Then I have a new mission for it.”  
“She doesn't even know it! She doesn't have a clue about her voice, just leave her alone! You can do what ever you want with me but please, leave her alone!”  
Abruptly she turned around, bending over the machine, starring it directly into the emotion filled eyes.  
“Listen, _machine_ , I am already doing what I want with you. And I am going to do what I want with her too. You know why? Because you can't stop me. You have been our slave, our _killing machine_ for so many years, and you will continue to be our machine for so many _more_ years. And we will make her into an even more powerful machine and use her and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. So, do me a favor, and _shut the fuck up!_ ”  
The woman straightened up and turned around.  
“You can start now. Make sure to block all of its memories again.”  
As she walked away she could her it scream and it made her smile.  
She would make that woman scream.  
She would make it listen.  
She would enjoy it.  
So much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally made it :D  
> I'm sorry for the late update, I was busy with usless stuff, and I know it's not really an excuse, so I am really really sorry.  
> But I promise that I am updating this Weekend too, so I hope i didn't mess up too bad 
> 
> I'm not really confident with this chapter, even though it's a bit longer than usual, so I hope you still like it :)

_Rhodey_

“I thought you would need more time than just those last few days. Are you really sure, you are back?”  
“I am. One hundred percent.”  
“Well, I have to admit that you're no longer lost in your thoughts, but being too happy can distract you too, you know?”  
“Of course, but I assure you, I'm fine now. I can concentrate again and I won't ignore you anymore.”  
Rhodes smiled at his best friend.  
“I hope so. Last time I felt like a piece of your furniture.”  
“I'm terribly sorry and I promise you, it will never happen again. In fact, I really need to talk to you.”  
Tony seemed like he would burst at any moment. He was full of energy and excitement and what ever happened, it made him more happy than anything since Maria and Howard died.  
It probably had something to do with the woman, or rather girl, they had visited at the hospital.  
“Would you mind telling me what turned you into a fifteen year old teenage girl?”  
“We met again. Yesterday. It was great. She's amazing, I don't even know where to start.”  
_He doesn't even try to deny his teenage girl behavior. What did she do? It's like I am speaking to a completely different person than usual._  
“At the beginning would be a good idea.”  
“Right. Okay, let me think.”  
After a few seconds of silence, Rhodey had just thought of poking him, just to see if Tony was still alive, his friend started speaking again.  
“Okay, I got it. I'm sorry, I had to somewhat straighten out my thoughts.  
We met at the beach -”  
“At the beach? Yesterday?”  
“Yes, at the beach. I know, the weather was bad, but I couldn't call her and we agreed to meet each other when we were at the hospital, you and me I mean.  
Anyway, we started... wandering around -”  
“Wandering around?”  
“Yes, could you please stop interrupting me? I might behave like a fifteen year old teenager but you sound like a ninety year old, overprotective grandmother worried about her only granddaughter.”  
“But what if you get sick because of it?”  
“See? There it is. If I get sick you can laugh at me and tell me that you knew it. Happy now?”  
Rhodey couldn't stop himself from grinning.  
“Yes. And believe me, you are going to hate me. Your whole body is radiating heat, I bet you've caught a cold.”  
“I haven't, I'm fine. Can I talk now or are you going to interrupt me again?”  
“No, no. Talk, I'm listening.”  
“As I said, we were wandering around a bit and she told me about herself and her family... and I told her a bit about me and my family... I even talked about you... She really liked our college stories. Her most favorite was about that one girl who turned out to be a guy in the end, do you remember that? That was hilarious. Anyway... I kissed her. And it was _amazing_.  
Rhodey, she is wonderful, everything about her.  
I think... I might have fallen for her. I think I love her.”  
It was really difficult for Rhodey to control himself. That was one of the few things he had always wanted. Tony falling in love, finding someone who could see past the facade he had built up after his parents died. The past few years he had been difficult, drinking too much, sleeping with too many women, refusing to sleep, sometimes for two days in a row or even more...  
The only distraction he had, had been his workshop. While he invented sometimes more, sometimes less useless stuff, his mind had been completely focused on his work and the old Tony had come back, the one that had a goal, the one that knew what exactly he wanted.  
Now Rhodey could see a mixture of the younger Tony, together with a completely different person.  
His best friend had never really felt love before. Of course, he had spent time with girls as a teenager, and of course had had a crush on a few of them, but the way he was now, that was something different. That was real love.  
“Listen, Tony. I guess I have to say sorry. Last time... I said some really stupid stuff, but I actually didn't mean it like that.”  
“Yeah, I remember. You told me I should forget about her.”  
“I did. And I am sorry about that. She... Pepper was her name? Pepper is the best thing that ever happened to you and I really hope that she doesn't hurt you. I want you to be happy okay? You are my best friend and after these three years... You need someone to distract you from that.”  
“Rhodes, I really appreciate that you are trying to give me the... the parent talk but believe me, that's not necessary.  
It is actually a tiny little bit creepy. Just be my best friend and ask about the size of her breasts or something.”  
“Okay, if you want me to. How big are they?”  
Tony laughed. “As if I am going to tell you that!”

_Myra_

“Didn't I tell you to come to me immediately after you have come home?”  
“You did. I'm sorry, grandma, I... I guess I was a bit afraid.”  
“Listen. There is no need for you to be afraid of me. The reason I asked you to come to me had nothing to do with the boy. Well, or at least not so much. It is something about our kind, that I have to tell you, something I should have told you earlier.”  
_No, mother! Don't tell her anything! She isn't supposed to know that!_  
Myra stood in front of her mother's room, eavesdropping. Her daughter, Pepper, had come home late and immediately went to Ari, in order to speak with her.  
There was no way Myra would ever allow her mother to share the biggest secret of their race with anyone.  
It had become a secret for a good reason and Pepper was never allowed to hear about it.  
“Mother, we need to speak.”, Myra said, as she entered the room.  
Ari looked younger again, even if she hadn't returned to her usual self yet. But the wrinkles had started to disappear and her hair had become more colorful again.  
These few days had had a huge effect on the aging process, or rather on the process of returning to her usual youth.  
“Go, Pepper, I will tell you later.”  
Ari waited until the girl had left the room, and only after that she started talking to her daughter. “And Myra, don't force me to detain you here. I will tell Pepper what she should have known from the very beginning. We had no right to keep it from her, especially not since it is such a huge part of who she is. She _has_ to know.”  
“No one is supposed to know. There is a reason why we kept it for ourselves, why we changed the memories of all the others.”  
“I know that. I'm not saying that we should tell everyone, but _Pepper_ has to know.”  
“That is not going to happen. This secret is keeping her _save_. As long as she doesn't know, nothing will happen to her and nothing will happen to the rest of us.”  
“You have to know that that's not true. Humans have always wanted someone like her and those who didn't, tried to kill them.”  
“You seem to forget what happened, mother. You seem to forget what we decided to do. You seem to forget what _we've done_!”  
“I could never forget. And I could never forgive myself for that.”  
“It was necessary.”  
“It wasn't. We were just afraid. Afraid of what could happen, afraid of their powers... But I won't make that same mistake again. I am going to tell Pepper what she really is. I am going to tell her that she is a siren.”  
“I can't let that happen. I am sorry... but this is for your own good.”  
Myra hit her mother as strong as she could, and Ari's head hit the wall. To make sure that her mother didn't drown in her unconsciousness, Myra removed all the water, leaving her on the ground.  
Since it was still new moon for a few more hours, the fishtail didn't turn into legs, which made sure, that Ari couldn't talk to Pepper for the time being.  
_I will have to think about something else in order to keep her from spilling the beans._  
 _There is no way I will let you tell my daughter about her own powers._  
 _If you tell her we will have no choice anymore but to..._  
 _I won't let that happen. Not to my daughter._

_Pepper_

Her mother knocked and Pepper opened her door.  
“Mother?”  
“I'm sorry to disturb you, but mother asked me to tell you that she doesn't feel so good at the moment, so she has to rest. Maybe she shouldn't have spent so much time on the surface.”  
“Oh... okay, I can wait... Maybe it wasn't that important anyway.”  
It didn't feel right, but Pepper couldn't just accuse her mother of something. Maybe her grandmother really didn't feel well.  
Instead she waited for the next hours to past as fast as possible. She really wanted to see Tony again, and make sure he didn't catch a cold because of her.  
_I should have told him to wait six days instead of five. I could have shown him my true self at any time, it didn't had to be new moon... If I were just a little bit more like my mother I would have known_.  
It was unusual for a mermaid to be as powerless as Pepper was. Everyone had a certain amount of control over the water. Some of them could use it to heal smaller wounds, others were able to form it after their will. Pepper's mother, Myra, was the strongest, she had almost infinite control over the water. But since she already owned this much, her voice was weak. Myra had never sung for anyone except her children, and while she sounded beautiful, there was still no power in it.  
The most powerful mermaid of all had never been able to sing to anyone.  
Since the time didn't seem to pass at all, Pepper decided to take a short nap. Since she had come back, she had been unable to sleep.  
Tony didn't have a nightmare and slept peacefully, but it made her rather anxious than happy. She knew, whenever he had a good night, the next one would be horrifying and this knowledge made it difficult for her to calm her thoughts.  
But she had to sleep, so she went to bed and forced herself to think about something calming.

_Tony was sitting on her lap, softly pulling her hair, playing with it, while Pepper was singing._  
 _He was smiling, a rather rare sight, and it made her more happy than anything else._  
 _“I love you, fairy.”, he said. “When I grow up, I will marry you. Then you will never go away and always sing for me.”_  
 _“Do you know what a marriage means Tony?”, she replied._  
 _“It means that you will always stay with me, no matter what happens.”_  
 _“You know, I don't have to marry you for that. I can just promise it.”_  
 _His eyes became big._  
 _“Father also always promises me to spend time with me without yelling, but he never keeps it.”_  
 _“I know... But I am not your father. I am your fairy and I promise, I will_ never _leave you.”_  
 _“Never? Really?”_  
 _“Never. I will be with you, even when you can't see me.”_

_Tears. He was crying._  
 _Pepper hadn't visited him the past few months, even though she could hear him calling for her._  
I am so sorry... But you need to forget me...  
 _“Fairy please! You promised me! You said you wouldn't leave me! Come back!”_  
 _Tony was literally screaming for her and it broke Pepper's heart._  
 _When she heard that someone entered his room, everything inside her went ice cold. It was Howard, his father._  
 _“Why are you screaming, Tony? I already told you once, that you shouldn't keep believing in your imaginary friend. There is no fairy and now go to sleep.”_  
 _“But Dad -”_  
 _“Stop whining and go to sleep! I have work to do.”_  
 _The little boy went completely silent and he didn't say anything for almost a year._

_“Do you have a new kid already?”_  
 _Stela stood next to Pepper, a serious look on her face._  
 _“Yes. And I will visit him immediately after that. I just have to look for him one last time. You know how difficult it was for him, since...”_  
 _“I know. And it isn't exactly against the rules either. Just make sure he doesn't see you, who knows how he will react, maybe he tries to throw something after you.”_  
 _“He wouldn't. He isn't like that, he is a very kind young kid.”_  
 _“Who killed a cat.”_  
 _“It was an accident, Stela. Nothing more.”_  
 _“It wasn't and you know that as well as I do. He was curious and killed the kitten in order to look what was going to happen to her.”_  
 _Of course Pepper knew that George had a tendency to be cruel, but after what his parents did to him, it was somewhat understandable._  
 _She could only hope, that his foster family would be kinder to him._  
 _He was sleeping when she arrived, and he even seemed peaceful. It was hard for her to tell his feelings now, she could only guess them. With his seventh birthday, their connection broke and none of his emotions would reach her now._  
 _Slowly Pepper entered his room, standing next to his bed and watching how his chest moved._  
 _He really didn't have a nightmare._  
 _But then a dog suddenly started to bark, and the boy woke up._  
 _“Betty, silent!”, he said, his voice sounding sleepy._  
 _George rubbed his eyes and starred at the mermaid, standing next to him._  
Oh no! This wasn't supposed to happen at all! I- I need to go, visit my new child!  
 _“Who is there? Who are you?”_  
 _His voice still sounded as if he wasn't really awake, so Pepper just bent over him, pushing him softly into his pillows._  
 _“It's me, your guardian angel. You're just dreaming, little George. Go back to sleep.”_  
 _“But Betty -”_  
 _“Don't worry. She's fine, she is sleeping. Sleep now.”_

Pepper woke up, right before her sister knocked at her door.  
“Pepper? Our parents ask for you. They want you to finally tell them how you got injured.  
Our brothers are back and you still have to tell me what happened yesterday!”  
_Seems like my break is over, then._  
 _I hope I will be able to visit Tony today..._

_Tony_

He had thought that she wouldn't come anymore, when Pepper arrived.  
Her long red hair had been braided and laid over her shoulder, a sharp contrast to her blue dress, that made the color of her eyes even more intense.  
“You came.”  
She smiled.  
“I promised that I would come.”  
“You said you'd come as soon as you can, I didn't expect you today.”  
“I think you did.”  
The confident Pepper was back and it made Tony's heart race like crazy. As much as he was fascinated by her shy and insecure self, when she was like this, she just blew his mind.  
Never before had there been a woman as calm around him as her, maybe it had something to do with the fact that she had known him her entire life.  
“Maybe I really did expect you today. At least I can say that I am happy that you are here now.”  
Tony brought her into his living room.  
Somehow he didn't knew what to say anymore and he started to fidget around. He had never been this nervous in his life, he was even more nervous than the one time inside the hospital.  
“Do you... do you want anything to drink?”  
“You are nervous... Is everything alright?”  
“I think so... I am sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me.”  
Pepper grabbed his arm, pulling him close to her.  
“There is no reason to be nervous at all.”  
Now that made Tony smile. “You were a wreck yesterday. I think I am allowed to get a little bit nervous. Now, do you want something to drink?”  
“Yes, that would be nice.”, Pepper responded.  
It was like her entire face started to shine when she smiled, and Tony knew, he would never let her go.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry, I know I promised I would upload it today, but I have a bit of a blocade, It takes me longer than usual to find the right words and write it in a way that I feel comfortable with it, so I can't upload -.-  
> I am trying my best to upload it tomorrow and I really am terrible sorry
> 
> UPDATE:  
> I am horrible, I know and I promise that I won't make promises anymore, because I am barely able to keep them... I still wasn't able to continue... I know EXACTLY what is going to happen next, but my English isn't good enough and I have no idea how to write it...  
> I promise that I am working on it but I can't tell when I will be able to uplad the next chapter...  
> I hope you're not too disappointed and that you won't stop reading.
> 
> UPDATE:  
> Guess what... I finally was able to continue writing and I was even proud of what I did and then the most horrible thing happened...  
> I was on vacation and I went to Japan (very nice country btw, they were all so friendly, it's incredible) so I had like ten hours to spare while flying and I ACTUALLY WROTE THE PART I HAD SO MUCH PROBLEMS WITH and while this part arrived savely in Germany (my laptop didn't fit into the bagpack so I wrote on the tablet of my friend) the beginning of the chapter didn't make it.... I lost my baggage (well, they did but whatever) so MY FUCKING LAPTOP IS GONE where I was writing on my baby and it PISSES ME OFF so while I am actually almost done with the chapter, I can't update it because half of it is somewhere in Poland now (we didn't flew directly). Great.  
> That means that you have to be paitent for a bit until I either get my laptop back or I have a new beginning for the piece of my chapter...  
> I am terribly sorry  
> I really wanted to update ut always on time and now everything is fucked up...  
> I hope you still decide that you want to continue to read this, I'd be overjoyed
> 
> I FINALLY DID IT!!!  
> I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO UPDATE MY STORY, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS  
> First of all, I am terribly sorry that it took so goddamn long. I really had difficulties writing this chapter, which is the reason why it took so long (combined with other difficulties as you probably know) and why this chapter is shorter than usual. I hope you still like it and continue to read.  
> I'll also try to update more regular now, which is not a promise, since I am pretty busy with other stuff (basically life).  
> Thank you for your patience, and I hope you like it!

_Tony_

He had finally calmed down.  
It had took him a bit of champagne, but now he was finally able to just talk to her, like a normal person.  
Just now they were lying on the sofa and he was trying to pull up her shirt a bit, so that he could see her scar, where she had been hurt.  
Pepper was holding him back, slightly annoyed, but still amused.  
“Just let me look!”, he said.  
“No, leave it. I said it's fine, didn't I? And you should have been able to see it yesterday.”  
“I was busy, come on, let me see it!”  
Maybe she believed Tony now that he was really worried, or she just wasn't able to fight against him anymore, but suddenly she stopped struggling and let go of his fingers.  
He looked at her, very seriously and thanked her. Then he pushed her t-shirt up, just a bit, so that he could see the thin, white line, were the skin got transplanted.  
Softly Tony caressed the scar.  
“It's almost gone.”  
“We... we heal really fast compared to humans, and inside the water even faster.”  
“If it is like that, then why did you had to come to a hospital?”  
Tony put her top down again, and looked into her eyes.  
“Wounds like mine... If the skin is gone like mine was, the water doesn't help. In order to be able to heal, the wound needs to be able to close on its own, and... well, a hole like the one I had doesn't close just like that. Wounds like this have to be treated, which is why my mother brought me to the beach. She had contacted my brother, who operated me.”  
“I see... But what happened? How did you get hurt like that?”  
“Well... It is a little bit embarrassing...”  
“That's not what I expected, to tell you the truth.”  
She smiled at him and continued.  
“I was with my twin brothers. They are only fourteen years old and both of them had gotten a very pretty pearl for their birthday.  
They were really excited to play with them and since they wanted to leave home and go deeper into the ocean, I had decided to go with them. You have to know, these two are real trouble maker and if you don't watch over them constantly they always and without fail get themselves into trouble while doing really stupid stuff.  
This time they swam into an war zone, at least I think it was one, where humans were throwing grenades and shooting around. As if this wasn't bad enough already, did one of them loose his pearl and I had to search for it.”  
“Did you find it?”  
“I did, but my brothers were gone by the time I came back and since I didn't knew where exactly I was I had to swim to the surface.”  
“I can tell you something already. It was definitely not embarrassing. A bit stupid maybe, but not embarrassing.”  
“To me it was. Anyway, as I was on my way down I got hit by a grenade. At that moment I just had been glad that I hadn't left the water, and most of the explosion just burned me lightly, but my side... It exploded right next to me.”  
Tony went pale.  
“You could have been killed.”, he said.  
“But I am alive. And, as weird as this might sound, I am somehow glad this happened. Otherwise I would have never found the courage to talk to you again.”

Pepper

Her heart was racing like crazy. She could still feel his fingers on her skin, touching the scar as light as a feather. It had taken her everything she had to just keep her voice steady while telling him how she got wounded, and now they were just looking at each other.  
After a few minutes Tony started speaking again.  
“You shouldn't say that. Maybe you would have been able to find the courage without getting hurt. You don't know that.”  
“Maybe you are right, maybe not... I don't know... But I am talking to you now, looking into your eyes, touching you... It has been so long, and you can't even remember it. You are everything to me, and being able to speak to you again... It is more than I had ever dared to imagine and I would never want to change that.”  
“I do remember you, I just couldn't recall what you looked like. Whenever you came to me, it was dark, so I never really saw you. I knew almost certain that you weren't blonde, but that's it.  
The only thing I would always recognize was your voice. When you sing for me... It is special. Your voice is special and I think that even if I wanted to, I could never forget how it sounds.”  
“You remember me?”  
Pepper couldn't believe her ears.  
“I always thought I had dreamed about it, but yes, I remember. My father... he was really angry at me when I told him about you, and mother loved it. Both of them thought that she – that you were my imaginary friend and when you disappeared, I started believing it too. The only sign I had that you were real, was a very long hair I found when I was seven.”  
“I remember that day, your birthday. I was there.”  
Tony took a strain of hair between his fingers.  
“I know. When I was lying in my bed I heard you singing _Happy Birthday_.”  
She grabbed his hand, the one playing with her hair.  
“I saw you, and you looked so incredibly sad... It hurt inside my heart. It hurt so much...”  
Pressing her lips together, Pepper had to close her eyes. She could feel it again, his anger, his sadness and her helplessness.  
Only when Tony touched her cheek, she looked at him again, tears in her eyes.  
_How am I supposed to ever live without you?_  
“I love you...” Pepper whispered, burying her face in his neck. She didn't dare to look at his face, as she waited for his answer, but she felt relieved. Relieved that she finally had the courage to tell Tony about her feelings.  
At first, he didn't say anything. He just softly turned her head, making it impossible for her to hide form him, then putting his forehead against hers. After a few seconds he closed his eyes.  
“Pepper...”, he murmured, “What did you do to me?”  
That wasn't what she had expected.  
_Did I say something wrong? Maybe I did scare him away with who I truly am, maybe-_  
“ _No_!”  
Tony's loud and angry voice startled Pepper and she pulled back.  
“No.”, he repeated softer. “Whatever you thought just now... that's not it... It's just... I've never felt this way before... The way I feel... The way _you make_ me feel... It's new to me. And when you said _that_ just now...”  
He swallowed hard. “I love you, Pepper. When I found you at the beach... It was like a puzzle piece fell at it's rightful place. As if I had the one thing that would make my life worth living...”  
She couldn't believe it. His words weren't really able to reach Pepper, it seemed impossible to her that he would love someone he had only met a few days ago. She had hoped for it, of course, but hearing it out of his mouth... it made it so much more real.  
In the back of her mind she could her the voice of her grandmother, telling her, that the soul song was a chance. A chance to grow up, a chance to truly _live_.  
“Tony...”  
Instead of finishing her sentence, she just kissed him, overwhelmed by her own feelings.  
Tony responded with a passion she didn't expected. His lips were demanding and there was no way she could ever pull herself away from him, even if she wanted to.  
He brought one arm around her hips and pulled her onto his lap, as close to him as possible and the moment she _felt_ him, she couldn't hold herself back anymore.  
The heat of lust running through her veins she pressed herself as tightly against him as she could, deepening the kiss even more. When they both had to catch their breath, she almost ripped his shirt off, only so she could really touch him.  
But it wasn't enough.  
She was fascinated by his tanned skin, letting her fingers glide over his tummy. She could feel his muscles moving, as he laid back and it made her want even more. She wanted everything.  
“Pepper...”  
Tony inhaled sharply, as she reached for his jeans, hastily trying to open it.  
But then he suddenly grabbed her hands, and turned them both around. Trapped as she was, it became impossible for her to continue to try to open the button and Pepper became nervous.  
His breath came fast and hectic, his eyes were dark, almost black from lust.  
“Don't...”, he managed to press out.  
“Why? Did I-”  
“No, no... everything is fine... It's just... you're special... And...”  
He stopped for a moment, catching his breath, before he continued to speak.  
“I want to give you the best treatment. I will give you the best treatment. I love you and I don't want to make a mistake. I feel like if I rush things as I usually do... I will ruin it and I will hurt you. And I don't want that. That's why... I want to do it... slowly. One step at a time.”  
“What do you mean by 'doing it slowly'?”  
She couldn't really comprehend what he was saying. She felt like she did something wrong, even though she was sure that she didn't.  
“It means that next time, I am going to invite you for a dinner. We can go to a restaurant or eat here, you decide.”


End file.
